CLOCS-A or TfNSW TS 00088: which one binds the vehicle?
TfNSW TS 00088 Minimum Requirements for Contractor Vehicles is Transport for NSW's own specification for the vehicles and plant a contractor brings onto its construction work. CLOCS-A is a national Standard for construction logistics and vulnerable road user safety. They meet at one point: TS 00088 makes the CLOCS-A Bronze vehicle equipment the minimum for every heavy vehicle on a TfNSW contract.
Demiton is not CLOCS-A, is not an accreditation body and accredits no one. This is an independent explainer. Every duty and item below is read from CLOCS-A Standard v1.6, published 21 April 2026, read 21 October 2026.
The short answer
On a TfNSW construction contract, TS 00088 binds the vehicle. Binds TfNSW construction contracts let on or after 26 August 2025; not retrospective (cl 2). applies_to_form recorded as TfNSW's amended GC21, the form TfNSW lets its construction contracts on - the same judgment call as G2-C2. CLOCS-A is different: cLOCS-A is a national voluntary Standard (s 1) that binds a contractor only when the client's contract requires it (s 3), or once the contractor is accredited.
So a heavy vehicle on a TfNSW job meets TS 00088 in full, which includes the CLOCS-A Bronze equipment. The rest of CLOCS-A, the driver, fatigue, reporting and logistics duties, applies only where the contract or an accreditation brings it in. A contractor with both obligations carries the TS 00088 vehicle rules and the CLOCS-A operator duties side by side; the table below sets them out by topic.
Where they meet: the Bronze equipment
Fit every heavy vehicle with at least the CLOCS-A Bronze safety equipment, or the higher tier the TfNSW contract manager selects (TS 00088 cl 8). Table 1 calls Bronze "the minimum mandatory specification for all heavy vehicles complying with this document"; the contract manager chooses the tier by cost, risk and performance (cl 2). A heavy vehicle must also meet sections 5 and 6.
The equipment itself is CLOCS-A's Appendix E1 list. The Bronze page sets out all of it as a table and a printable checklist, including which items apply to city and urban projects only and which can be met one of two ways. A TfNSW contract manager can select a higher tier for a job; the document says the choice turns on cost, risk and performance, so read the contract for the tier it names before fitting a vehicle out.
Side by side, by clause
Each cell is a duty the library holds, with the clause it is read from. Where one document has no row for a topic, the cell says the library holds none; that is a statement about this library, not a promise that the document is silent.
| Topic | TfNSW TS 00088:1.0 | CLOCS-A Standard v1.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle safety equipment | Fit every heavy vehicle with at least the CLOCS-A Bronze safety equipment, or the higher tier the TfNSW contract manager selectscl 8 | Fit every heavy vehicle with the CLOCS-A safety equipment for the project's tiercl 5.4.2(a) |
| Daily pre-start check | Have the operator carry out and record a daily inspection of each vehicle and plant item before every shift, and keep the report in the vehiclecl 6.9 | Carry out a Driver's Daily Pre-start Check on every heavy vehicle, and report and fix the defects it findscl 5.4.3(a) |
| Service records | Keep each vehicle's service records available in the vehiclecl 6.9 | not held in the library |
| Vehicle registration | Keep every light and heavy road vehicle fully registered, and road-registrable plant fully or conditionally registered, for the whole contractcl 5.1 | Document and run a system that manages compliance with heavy vehicle transport law, such as the Heavy Vehicle National Law and the Road Rulescl 5.4.1(a) |
| Plant registration | Keep registrable plant, both its design and the item, registered with SafeWork NSW for the whole contract, and never use or let anyone use plant without a current registration certificatecl 5.4 | not held in the library |
| Operator manuals and safety information | Keep each vehicle's and plant item's operator manual and safety information, and the plant risk assessment and SWMS for high-risk activities, available to the operatorcl 6.8 | not held in the library |
| Driver licences | not held in the library | Make sure every heavy vehicle driver the operator engages, subcontractors included, holds a valid licence for the class of vehicle they drivecl 5.4.4(a)Check every heavy vehicle driver's licence category, expiry date and restrictions on a regular basiscl 5.4.4(b) |
| Driver training | not held in the library | Make sure every heavy vehicle driver the operator engages has completed training in vulnerable road user awareness, low-risk driving, safe loading and unloading, load restraint, pre-start inspection, fatigue management and breakdown safetycl 5.4.5(a) |
Where they differ
TS 00088 is about the vehicle and the plant: registration for the whole contract, plant registered with SafeWork NSW, the operator's manual and safety information kept with the machine, a daily inspection before each shift, and service records in the vehicle. It reaches light vehicles and plant as well as heavy vehicles; the CLOCS-A rows in this library are about heavy vehicles only.
CLOCS-A is about the operation around the vehicle: who drives it, how they were trained and checked, whether they are fit to drive, how their driving is monitored, how incidents are reported and what the principal contractor plans for the site. None of that is in TS 00088's rows in this library. A contractor who runs its own trucks on a job that requires CLOCS-A is the transport operator, and carries those duties itself.
The pre-start check, under both
Both documents require a daily check, and they ask for different things. TS 00088 cl 6.9: have the operator carry out and record a daily inspection of each vehicle and plant item before every shift, and keep the report in the vehicle. CLOCS-A cl 5.4.3(a): carry out a Driver's Daily Pre-start Check on every heavy vehicle, and report and fix the defects it finds. The Standard places the pre-start inside a maintenance management system for the heavy vehicle fleet. The pre-start checklist puts both on one printable sheet with the Bronze equipment.
On a NSW job, in order
- Read the contract: does it name TS 00088, and which CLOCS-A tier does the contract manager select?
- Fit every heavy vehicle to that tier, Bronze at least, and keep every vehicle and plant item registered.
- Run the daily inspection before each shift, keep the report and the service records in the vehicle.
- If the contract also requires CLOCS-A, or the business is accredited, add the transport operator duties in clause 5.4.
The documents are on their own pages, clause by clause: TS 00088 and the CLOCS-A Standard.
What this page is, and is not
It is the clause text this library holds from the CLOCS-A Standard, with whom each duty binds. It is not legal advice, it is not accreditation, and it does not score anyone's readiness. Read the Standard and the contract you signed.
Clauses read from the obligation library, release v22, last checked against the source on .
Source: CLOCS-A Standard v1.6, published 21 April 2026, read 21 October 2026